Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, in partnership with Content Blockchain pioneer Eluvio, announced today the launch of the WB Movieverse with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) Web3 Movie Experience, available for preview now and opening for purchase on October 21.
A ground-breaking first-of-its-kind Web3 entertainment offering from WBHE, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) Web3 Movie Experience is a multimedia living NFT, a new way for fans to engage with the film through two dynamic menu experience options – “The Mystery Edition” and “The Epic Edition.”
Both menu options allow owners to watch the extended version of the film in 4K UHD, access more than eight hours of special features, view image galleries, discover hidden AR collectibles, and explore themed navigation menus based on iconic locations from the beloved film. They can also own and trade the experience in a community marketplace.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) Web3 Movie Experience is the first in an anticipated series of Web3 movie offerings from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Notably, it is the first major studio film to be released as a multimedia NFT.
The Mystery Edition includes a surprise interactive location-based navigation menu from one of three film locations (The Shire, Rivendell, Mines of Moria), location-specific key art, the extended edition of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, over eight hours of special features, image galleries specific to the location assigned, and hidden AR collectibles.
The Epic Edition includes all three location-based navigation menus, along with all the features of the Mystery Edition. It also includes additional image galleries not included with the Mystery Edition.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) Web3 Movie Experience is powered by Eluvio, pioneers of the Content Blockchain and Web3 innovation throughout the media and entertainment industry. The Eluvio Content Blockchain provides a high-performance, simple-to-use, and cost-effective Web3 platform built for content.
It enables Web3 native media experiences, allowing publishers and fans to directly enjoy and monetize shows, films, concerts, digital albums, digital collectibles, interactive and metaverse experiences, and more. Content creators and their communities benefit from a significantly more carbon-efficient alternative to traditional platforms for digital asset management, 4K streaming, ticketing, NFT minting, and trading of premium content.
Notably, in this experience, the core digital assets, along with derivative NFTs, are all on the blockchain, not just the token (NFT) itself.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and fans enjoy blockchain-backed access control and content rights enforcement, scalable attestation of ownership, smart contracts that enable distributed royalties, and content experiences that can even evolve over time.
“Fans of The Lord of the Rings can now acquire, participate, and trade in an epic living media experience that will undoubtedly surprise and delight them,” said Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Eluvio. “It’s truly designed for a mass consumer audience, not just Web3 enthusiasts, which is why it should, and does, feel so remarkable and engaging.
“At the same time, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is setting a new bar for innovation in the distribution of home movies by demonstrating the potential of Web3 for consumer engagement, digital supply chain transformation, and new business opportunities.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) Digital Movie NFT will be available on October 21, exclusively at Web3.wb.com. A limited quantity will be made available while supplies last and will be available for purchase by credit card or cryptocurrency.
The Mystery Edition will be available for $30, and the Epic Edition will be available for $100.
To participate in this novel experience, fans create a secure, easy-to-use media wallet that acts as a digital vault and enables consumers to stream and purchase content via credit cards or crypto wallets.
Eluvio’s Content Blockchain also provides a breakthrough in carbon-footprint efficiency in the ways it manages media, uses blockchain technology, and owns on-chain content. Through a novel compositional and just-in-time protocol, the Eluvio Content Blockchain does not make digital file copies and significantly reduces the network storage and usage requirements compared to traditional streaming and content distribution systems. It also uses an eco-friendly “proof-of-authority” consensus, which avoids the high energy consumption used in computational “proof-of-work” blockchains.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.